Information processing terminal and automatic response method

ABSTRACT

The information processing terminal that performs automatic response, comprises: a database configured to store personal information of a user of the information processing terminal; a receiver configured to receive an access and a message from an access partner; an automatic response unit configured to, after receiving the access, perform a request to the access partner to transmit the message when an operation in response to the access is not input in the information processing terminal, and create a response to the message which has been received in response to the request; and a transmitter configured to transmit the response to the access partner, wherein the automatic response unit includes: an intention recognition unit configured to recognize an intension of the message; and a response creation unit configured to create a response to the message by referring to the intension of the message and the personal information.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to automatic response technology forinformation processing terminals, and more particularly, to theautomatic response technology in which response contents can beautomatically created and transmitted in accordance with an attribute ofan access partner and contents of an access.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, due to the spread of information processing terminalssuch as mobile phones, smart phones, and tablet terminals, anenvironment capable of easily communicating is available. Generally, auser always carries an information processing terminal, namely, a mobilephone, a smart phone, a tablet terminal, etc. Meanwhile, there is a casewhere, when having received an access from someone (specifically,incoming call, message reception in a text chat, e-mail reception,etc.), the user cannot respond thereto. For example, for safety reasonsor under social standard, the user cannot operate the informationprocessing terminal during such as driving, meetings, working, orattending lectures, nor perform voice conversation such as during usingpublic transportation, at the midnight, or in a place where privacycannot be protected. In such a case, when the access is by voice, theuser has utilized an automatic answering telephone function. Theautomatic answering telephone function is configured to uniformlyrespond to an access partner and record a received message regardless ofwho the access partner is or what the purpose of the access is. Inrecent years, the following techniques have evolved from the automaticanswering telephone function.

There is an IP telephone device that performs response operations inaccordance with each caller. The Patent Literature 1 discloses “the IPtelephone device is configured to associate an address of a callingterminal which is a target for an automatic response operation with thekind of a response operation which will be performed after automaticallyestablishing a session in response to reception of an INVITE messagefrom the address, so as to store it in a storage of the IP telephonedevice as an automatic response setting. Upon receiving an INVITEmessage from a calling terminal through an IP network, the IP telephonedevice collates the address of the calling terminal which is receivedwith the INVITE message with addresses included in the automaticresponse setting, and when the calling address is included in theautomatic response setting, establishes a session without waiting for anoff-hook operation, and performs a response operation in accordance withthe kind of the response operation associated with the calling address”(excerpted from the Abstract).

Non Patent Literature 1 discloses the technique in which, upon receivingan e-mail, a mail server automatically replies thereto. Furthermore,according to this technique, it is possible to change contents in areply mail depending on whether an address of a transmission source ofthe e-mail is within or outside of an organization of a user.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: JP 2007-173935 A

Non Patent Literature

-   Non Patent Literature 1: “Send Automatic out of office replies from    Outlook”, [online], [retrieved on Mar. 28, 2017]<URL:    https://Support.office.com/en-us/article/Send-automatic-out-of-office-replies-from-Outlook-9742f476-5348-4f9f-997f-5e208513bd67>

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, the technique described in Patent Literature 1 is merelyconfigured to reply by associating an access source with a responseoperation in one-to-one relation. Furthermore, the technique describedin Non Patent Literature 1 is merely configured to classify accesssources into two types as compared with the technique of PatentLiterature 1. In both cases, it is necessary for a user to registerresponse operations for each calling address or each access source, andaccordingly, a complicated procedure is required for the user.

Furthermore, in the technique described in Non Patent Literature 1, theaccess sources are classified into two types, and accordingly, even whenreceiving an access from a person having an unauthorized purpose,information (as a main object of the technique described in Non PatentLiterature 1, information indicating that the user is absent) isunnecessarily provided thereto. On the other hand, if setting not torespond to accesses from outside of an organization in order to preventthe above, information cannot be provided to people outside of theorganization. In this way, it is not possible to cope with situationsflexibly. Furthermore, since the technique described in Non PatentLiterature 1 is basically for notifying an access partner that the useris absent, no responses are made for the second and subsequent accesses.However, the reasons why the second and subsequent accesses are made maybe different from that of the first time, and thus the purposes andconditions for utilizing the technique described in Non PatentLiterature 1 are limited.

The objective of the present invention is to provide the technique forautomatically transmitting an appropriate response to an access partnerin accordance with a situation with taking account of an attribute of anaccess source, access contents, and a situation of a user or informationprocessing terminal, without requiring the user to perform a complicatedprocedure.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve at least one of the problems above, the presentinvention provides a means for automatically generating responsecontents in accordance with a purpose of access contents, with takingaccount of the access contents received from an access partner and asituation of a user or information processing terminal.

Furthermore, in order to solve at least one of the problems above, thepresent invention provides a means for automatically generating responsecontents in accordance with a purpose of access contents, by classifyingaccess partners and setting authority for each type.

Still further, in order to solve at least one of the problems above, thepresent invention provides a means for automatically generating responsecontents in accordance with a purpose of access contents, taking accountof the above-mentioned type of the access partner, access contents, anda situation of the user or information processing terminal.

Other specific matters according to the present embodiment are includedin the embodiment and drawings.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

With the technique according to the present invention, it is possible toautomatically transmit an appropriate response to an access partner inaccordance with a situation with taking account of an attribute of anaccess source, access contents, and a situation of a user or informationprocessing terminal, without requiring a user to perform a complicatedprocedure. The problems to be solved, configurations, and advantageouseffects other than those described above will be clarified in theembodiments described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing terminalaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are external views of an information processingterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a memory and storage of an informationprocessing terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an automatic response unitaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory drawing for explaining a contact information DBaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory drawing for explaining an authority informationDB according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a response creation unitaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a main flowchart of automatic response processing according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of situation confirmation processing according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of response creation processingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example of execution processing accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of another example of execution processingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, examples of an embodiment according to the presentinvention will be explained using the drawings. The embodiment describedbelow is one of the examples for achieving the present invention, anddepending on configurations of apparatus to which the present inventionis applied and various conditions, the present invention should beappropriately corrected or modified in a range without deviating fromthe significance of the present invention but not be limited to thefollowing embodiment.

The information processing terminal according to the present embodimentis configured to automatically create a response in accordance with asituation and transmit the response when a user thereof cannot respondto an access from an access partner. Upon receiving a message from theaccess partner in response thereto, the information processing terminalperforms processing in accordance with the received message, andautomatically creates and transmits a further response. Hereinafter, aninformation processing terminal 100 according to the present embodimentwhich realizes the processing above will be described.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the information processingterminal 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2Billustrate external views of the information processing terminal 100according to the present embodiment. The external view of FIG. 2A andFIG. 2B illustrate examples in which the information processing terminal100 is an information processing terminal device such as a smart phone,and FIG. 2A illustrates a front surface of the information processingterminal 100 and FIG. 2B illustrates a back surface (behind) of theinformation processing terminal 100. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B omit toillustrate the left, right, top, and bottom surface thereof.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing terminal 100includes a main controller 101, a system bus 102, memory 104, a storage110, a video processor 120, a voice processor 130, an operation unit140, a communication processor 150, a sensor 160, and an extensioninterface 170.

The information processing terminal 100 may be an information processingdevice capable of transmitting and receiving data bidirectionally withanother device, for example, which may be a mobile phone, a smart phone,and a tablet terminal. As other examples, it may be a PDA (PersonalDigital Assistants), a PC (Personal Computer), or a digital camera.Furthermore, it may be a video camera capable of photographing a movingpicture, a portable game machine, or other portable digital devices.Hereinafter, a smart phone will be described as an example of thepresent embodiment.

The main controller 101 is a microprocessor unit that controls the wholeof the information processing terminal 100 in accordance with apredetermined program. The system bus 102 is a data communication pathfor performing data transmission/reception between the main controller101 and each part within the information processing terminal 100.

The memory 104 is a program area during execution of a basic operationprogram and other application programs. Additionally, the memory 104 isa temporary storage area which stores data as necessary during executionof various application programs. The memory 104 may be integral with themain controller 101.

The storage 110 stores such as each operation setting value of theinformation processing terminal 100 and information of a user of theinformation processing terminal 100. The storage 110 may store stillpicture data and moving picture data captured by the informationprocessing terminal 100. In this connection, the information processingterminal 100 is configured such that the function can be extended bydownloading a new application program from an application server throughthe Internet. At this time, the downloaded new application program isstored in the storage 110. The main controller 101 develops the newapplication program stored in the storage 110 on the memory 104 andexecutes the program so that the information processing terminal 100 canrealize various new functions.

The storage 110 needs to hold the stored information even in a statewhere no power is supplied to the information processing terminal 100.Accordingly, devices such as a flash ROM, a SSD (Solid State Drive), anda HDD (Hard Disk Drive) are used.

A display 121 is a display device such as a liquid crystal panel, andprovides a user of the information processing terminal 100 with videodata processed by a video signal processor 122.

The video processor 120 includes the video signal processor 122 as wellas a first video input unit 123, a second video input unit 124, and athird video input unit 125. The video signal processor 122 processesvideo images acquired by each of the video input units.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, in the present embodiment, forexample, the third video input unit 125 and the display 121 are arrangedon the same surface (front surface). The first video input unit 123 andthe second video input unit 124 are arranged on a surface opposite tothe display 121 (back surface). Additionally, a flash unit 129 isarranged on a position adjacent to the first video input unit 123 andthe second video input unit 124.

In the following, there will be cases where the third video input unit125 disposed on the same surface on which the display 121 is disposed isreferred to as an “in-camera”, and the first video input unit 123 andthe second video input unit 124 disposed on the surface opposite to thesurface on which the display 121 is disposed are referred as an“out-camera”. In the present embodiment, the first video input unit 123and the second video input unit 124 are arranged on the positions of theback surface, on the other hand, they may be arranged on the samesurface on which the display 121 is disposed. Furthermore, the firstvideo input unit 123 and the second video input unit 124 may beconfigured as one unit.

The voice processor 130 includes a voice output unit 131, a voice signalprocessor 132, and a voice input unit 133. The voice output unit 131 isa speaker, and outputs a voice signal processed by the voice signalprocessor 132 to the outside. The voice input unit 133 is a microphone,and converts voice of a user into voice data and inputs the data. Thevoice input unit 133 is separate from the information processingterminal 100, and may be connected to the information processingterminal 100 by wire communication or wireless communication.

The operation unit 140 is an instruction input unit for inputting anoperation instruction to the information processing terminal 100. In thepresent embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the operationunit 140 includes a touch panel 140 t which is overlapped and arrangedon the display 121, and operation keys 140 k 1, 140 k 2 which arearranged as button switches. In this connection, only one of among thetouch panel 140 t and the operation keys 140K1, 140K2 may be used.Furthermore, the information processing terminal 100 may be configuredto be operated by using such as a keyboard connected to the extensioninterface 170 which will be described later. Still further, theinformation processing terminal 100 may be configured to be operated byusing another information processing terminal device connected theretoby wire communication or wireless communication. The touch panelfunction may be the one which is provided in the display 121.

The communication processor 150 includes a LAN (Local Area Network)transceiver 151, a mobile telephone network transceiver 152, and aproximity wireless transceiver 153. The LAN transceiver 151 is connectedwith wireless communication access points for the Internet by wirelesscommunication to transmit/receive data. The mobile telephone networktransceiver 152 performs telephone communication (telephone call) andtransmits/receives data by wireless communication with a base station ofa mobile telephone network. The proximity wireless transceiver 153performs wireless communication in proximity to a reader/writercorresponding thereto. Each of the LAN transceiver 151, the mobiletelephone network transceiver 152, and the proximity wirelesstransceiver 153 includes a coding circuit, a decoding circuit, anantenna, etc., respectively. Additionally, they may include an infraredtransceiver, etc.

The sensor 160 is a sensor group for detecting a state of theinformation processing terminal 100. In the present embodiment, thesensor 160 includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 161, anacceleration sensor 162, a gyro sensor 163, a geomagnetic sensor 164, anilluminance sensor 165, and a proximity sensor 166. The sensor groupmakes it possible to detect such as a position, a movement, aninclination, and a direction of the information processing terminal 100as well as a peripheral brightness and a proximity state of asurrounding object. The sensor 160 may further include other sensors.

The extension interface 170 is an interface group for extending thefunction of the information processing terminal 100, and in the presentembodiment, includes a video/voice interface, a USB (Universal SerialBus) interface, a memory interface, etc. The video/voice interfaceinputs a video signal/voice signal from an external video/voice outputdevice and outputs a video signal/voice signal to the externalvideo/voice output device. The USB interface connects a keyboard andother USB devices with the information processing terminal 100. Thememory interface connects a memory card and other memory media with theinformation processing terminal 100 to transmit/receive data.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a memory 104 and a storage 110according to the present embodiment.

The main controller 101 develops a basic operation program 110 a, acamera function program 110 b, and a voice recognition program 110 c, anautomatic response program 110 d, and other programs 110 e which arestored in the storage 110 on the memory 104 and executes them, so as torealize a basic operation unit 104 a, a camera function unit 104 b, avoice recognition unit 104 c, an automatic response unit 104 d, andother-function units 104 e which control operations of the informationprocessing terminal 100.

The information processing terminal 100 may further include eachhardware block for realizing the same operations as those of the basicoperation unit 104 a, the camera function unit 104 b, the voicerecognition unit 104 c, the automatic response unit 104 d, and theother-function units 104 e in hardware as substitutes therefor.

The storage 110 further includes a storage area 110 f for storingvarious kinds of information and data. The various kinds of informationand data are stored in the storage area 110 f in advance, and at thetime of execution of each program, for example, developed on a temporarystorage area 104 f of the memory 104 and used. The data generated duringexecution of each program and data generated as an execution result arestored in the storage area 110 f or the temporary storage area 104 f.

In the present embodiment, the various kinds of information and datainclude, for example, personal information, map information, and trafficinformation. Such information may not be stored in the storage 110, butfor example, may be stored in other storages which are accessiblethrough the Internet.

The personal information referred to in the present embodiment isinformation which is held by the information processing terminal 100 ina broad sense, and is specific to a user or is input in the informationprocessing terminal 100 by the user. Specifically, the personalinformation includes information such as an address, a telephone number,a date of birth of the user, as well as information of pictures andmoving pictures stored in the information processing terminal 100, andalso includes such as contact information, authority information,positional information, and schedule information which will be describedlater.

The configuration example of the information processing terminal 100illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a number of elements which are notessential to the present embodiment such as a part of the communicationprocessor 150 and a part of the sensor 160, on the other hand, even whenthese elements are not included in the configuration, an advantageouseffect of the present embodiment is not lost. Additionally, elementswhich are not illustrated in the drawings such as a digital televisionbroadcast receiving function and an electronic money settlement functionmay be further added to the configuration.

Hereinafter, the automatic response unit 104 d according to the presentembodiment will be described. FIG. 4 illustrates a functional blockdiagram of the automatic response unit 104 d according to the presentembodiment.

The automatic response unit 104 d of the present embodiment includes areceiver 210, a processer 220, and a transmitter 240. The automaticresponse unit 104 d of the present embodiment uses various data storedin the storage area 110 f of the various information and data or thetemporary storage area 104 f as a database 250 to realize automaticresponse processing.

The receiver 210 receives an access and message which are sent from anaccess partner to the information processing terminal 100. The receiver210 of the present embodiment includes a text data receiver 211, a voicedata receiver 212, and an other-information receiver 213.

The processer 220 creates a response in accordance with a messagereceived by the receiver 210. The processer 220 of the presentembodiment includes a character recognition unit 221, a voicerecognition unit 222, an intention recognition unit 223, a responsecreation unit 230, an authority setting unit 225, a response recordingunit 226, a terminal controller 227, a text data generation unit 228, avoice data generation unit 229, and a situation grasping unit 224.

The transmitter 240 transmits the response generated by the processer220 to the access partner. The transmitter 240 therefore includes a textdata transmitter 241 and a voice data transmitter 242.

The database 250 stores a personal information DB 254 and a responserecording DB 253. The personal information DB 254 includes a contactinformation database (DB) 251 and an authority information DB 252.

The text data receiver 211 receives text data in the message transmittedfrom the access partner via the communication processor 150. The textdata receiver 211 outputs the received text data to the characterrecognition unit 221.

The character recognition unit 221 analyzes characters to acquire textdata. The text data is, for example, a text message in a text chat and atext in an e-mail.

The voice data receiver 212 receives voice data in the messagetransmitted from the access partner via the communication processor 150.The voice data receiver 212 outputs the received voice data to the voicerecognition unit 222. The voice data receiver 212 transmits the voicedata, for example, by telephone using a telephone network, an IPtelephone using the internet network, or a telephone available in anapplication which can be also used as a text chat. In this connection,the data to be transmitted may include video data.

The voice recognition unit 222 recognizes voice to acquire text data.The voice recognition unit 222 is realized by the above-mentioned voicerecognition unit 104 c.

The other-information receiver 213 receives information accompanied bythe message transmitted from the access partner (accompanyinginformation). The accompanying information includes, for example, anincoming number in the case of telephone, an e-mail address of atransmission source in the case of e-mail, an application ID in the caseof text chat, which are information capable of uniquely specifying anaccess partner. In the following, information capable of uniquelyspecifying an access partner is collectively referred to identification(ID) information. The other-information receiver 213 transmits thereceived accompanying information to the authority setting unit 225.

The authority setting unit 225 specifies an access partner by using thecontact information DB 251 based on the ID information of the accesspartner. Then, the authority setting unit 225 refers to contents of themessage as necessary, determines authority of the access partner byusing the authority information DB 252, and sets the authority of theaccess partner. The details of the contact information DB 251 and theauthority information DB 252 and the details of processing of theauthority setting unit 225 will be described later.

The intention recognition unit 223 analyzes the data which has been madeinto texts by the character recognition unit 221 or the voicerecognition unit 222 to identify the intention of the data. Theintention recognition unit 223 outputs an identification result(intention recognition result) to the response creation unit 230. In thepresent embodiment, the data is classified into predetermined intensionsections. The intention sections include, for example, scheduleconfirmation (inquiry), location confirmation, and appointment request.The details thereof will be described later. Analysis of data may, forexample, utilize a variety of existing techniques such as machinelearning.

For example, firstly, the intention recognition unit 223 identifiesfeature of data. The intention recognition unit 223 identifies thefeature based on metadata, location of a part of the data within thedata, contents, context, keyword, history, heuristic, inference, rule,division, source of the data, and transmitted/received time/day of thedata. Then, the intention recognition unit 223 divides the data of whichthe feature has been identified into logical structures such as acharacter string, word, sentence, and paragraph, extracts features ofeach logical structure, and identifies the intention from the extractedfeatures.

The intention recognition unit 223 may be constituted of a classifier bya Support Vector Machine, a Bayes method, a knowledge engineering, etc.Furthermore, learning data which was previously made to learn may beinstalled in advance and used. Still further, the learning data may bedynamically updated at the time of execution. The intention recognitionunit 223 may employ a method for recognizing an intention by using thetechnique of machine learning such as deep learning and reinforcementlearning.

For example, upon receiving a message such as “where are you?”, theintention recognition unit 223 recognizes the intension of the messageas “location confirmation” and outputs “current location of theinformation processing terminal 100” which is a location to beconfirmed. Similarly, upon receiving a message such as “what are youdoing now?” or “who are you taking with on the phone?”, the intentionrecognition unit 223 outputs “current situation confirmation”. Uponreceiving a message such as “Can we meet now?”, “Do you have time on Xday of Y month?”, or “Please note that the meeting will be held”, theintention recognition unit 223 outputs “appointment request”. Uponreceiving a message such as “Have you got the pictures from the trip?”,the intention recognition unit 223 outputs “request of providing data”as well as “pictures from the trip to XX” which is the information forspecifying the data to be provided. In this case, the pictures areselected based on the information which can be acquired from dateinformation and location information accompanied by the pictures oranalysis of the images of the pictures, etc. Upon receiving a messagesuch as “What is your pulse rate?”, the intention recognition unit 223outputs “request for providing medical information” as well as “pulserate” which is the information to be provided. Upon receiving messagessuch as “Turn on the light” and “Turn on the sound”, the intentionrecognition unit 223 outputs turning on a light, emitting light,outputting a sound, etc. as the request for controlling operations ofthe information processing terminal 100 and control processing thereof.

Based on the result of intention recognition which has been identifiedby the intention recognition unit 223 and the authority which has beenset by the authority setting unit 225, the response creation unit 230generates response contents on which the result of intention recognitionof the access partner is reflected (including the location informationand/or schedule information). The response creation unit 230 outputs thegenerated response contents to at least one of the text data generationunit 228, the voice data generation unit 229, and the terminalcontroller 227. The details thereof will be described later.

The response recording unit 226 records the response contents generatedby the response creation unit 230 together with the ID information ofthe access partner in the response recording DB 253. Here, the accesspartner is a transmission source of the message which is a basis forgenerating the response contents. In this connection, the recordedresponse contents may be adapted to be displayed when the user operatesthe information processing terminal 100 for the first time thereafter orwhen the user operates an associated application for the first timethereafter in order to show to the user that the automatic responsefunction has been executed.

The response recording unit 226 corresponds the ID information, responsecontents, recording time, etc. with each other and registers them in theresponse recording DB 253.

The text data generation unit 228 converts the response contentsgenerated by the response creation unit 230 into text data, and makesthe text data transmitter 241 transmit the text data to the accesspartner according to the access method.

The voice data generation unit 229 converts the response contentsgenerated by the response creation unit 230 into voice data, and makesthe voice data transmitter 242 transmit the voice data to the accesspartner according to the access method.

The terminal controller 227 performs an operation such as outputting abeep sound or lighting the flash unit 129 based on an instruction fromthe response creation unit 230.

The situation grasping unit 224 determines whether the user can respondto an access, and when it is determined that the user is unable torespond, it performs initial response processing in accordance with thecategory and/or authority of the access partner. The situation graspingunit 224 determines whether the user can respond to the access dependingon whether operations including responding, opening an e-mail, etc. isperformed or whether the e-mail has already been read within aprescribed time. The details of the initial response processing will bedescribed later.

Hereinafter, the contact information DB 251 and the authorityinformation DB 252 which are accessed by the authority setting unit 225,the response creation unit 230, the situation grasping unit 224, etc. atthe time of processing and stored in the database 250, will bedescribed.

The contact information DB 251 stores attribute (category) informationof the access partner by corresponding it to the ID information of theaccess partner. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the contact informationDB 251.

Each record item registered in the contact information DB 251 includes,as illustrated in FIG. 5, a name 251 a, a category 251 b, a date ofbirth 251 c, a password 251 d, and an ID information 251 e of the accesspartner.

The category 251 b is a unit for specifying the authority in theauthority information DB 252 which will be described later. In thepresent embodiment, the category 251 b includes a belonging 251 f, animportance flag (importance) 251 g, and a type 251 h. The importanceflag 251 g is used to set a plurality of different authority to peoplein the same type 251 h. With the importance flag 251 g, for example, itis possible to set the different authority to the people, even if theybelong to the same company, depending on whether the person is asuperior.

The information of the user of the information processing terminal 100is also registered in the contact information DB 251. As the informationof the user, information capable of specifying the identity of the usersuch as “myself” is registered in the type 251 h.

The ID information 251 e includes a telephone number 251 i, an e-mailaddress 251 j, and an application ID 251 k, which are the informationfor identifying the access partner as described above.

In this connection, in the “emergency” of the category 251 b, forexample, an administration ID is registered as the ID information 251 e.The administration ID can be used, for example, as a clue for finding amissing person by an administrative organization such as a fire stationin the case of disaster. Specifically, the administration may access theinformation processing terminal 100 of a victim buried in rubble toacquire its positional information and/or specify its position bygenerating a sound.

The name 251 a is used for providing the user with the identificationinformation specified by the ID information 251 e since the name can beunderstood by the user more easily than a telephone number and an e-mailaddress. The user merely needs to know who the access partner is, andaccordingly, the name 251 a is not limited to the names of people, butcan recite, for example, a company name or school name. In thisconnection, the names in the name 251 a may overlap with each other.

Furthermore, information such as a zip code, an address, and picturesmay be registered in the contact information DB 251. On the other hand,all the items in the contact information DB 251 are not necessarilyfilled in but only necessary information may be appropriately recited.

The authority information DB 252 stores propriety of executionprocessing, which is performed by the information processing terminal100 in accordance with the message from the access partner, as theauthority for each category. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of theauthority information DB 252.

Each record registered in the authority information DB 252 includes, asillustrated in FIG. 6, a category 252 a and an execution processingpropriety information 252 b. The category 252 a corresponds to thecategory 251 b of the contact information DB 251, and includes a type, abelonging, and an importance flag.

The propriety information 252 b is information for specifying whethereach execution processing can be performed. The registered executionprocessing includes, for example, providing positional information,schedule confirmation (providing scheduled information), appointmentprocessing, providing personal information, providing healthinformation, and emergency processing. The execution processing is notlimited to the items above, but necessary inquiry contents can be set asthe execution processing, and appropriately added thereto or deletedtherefrom.

In the present embodiment, a case where the number of the authorityinformation DB 252 is one will be described as an example. However, thereliability of telephone numbers is different from that of e-mailaddresses. That is, e-mail addresses are easily camouflaged. Therefore,another different authority information DB 252 may be provided for whenthe ID information 251 e which is the basis for specifying the category252 a is telephone numbers and for when it is e-mail addresses. In thiscase, the authority in the authority information DB 252 of the e-mailaddresses is restricted more than that of the authority information DB252 of the telephone numbers even for the same category 252 a.

The contact information DB 251 and the authority information DB 252 arestored in the storage 110, and appropriately developed on the memory 104as needed during execution of a program.

Hereinafter, the details of the response creation unit 230 will bedescribed. FIG. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram of the responsecreation unit 230. The response creation unit 230 creates responsecontents by using the intention recognition result and the authority asdescribed above. To realize above, the response creation unit 230includes an execution processing storage 235 for storing executionprocessing contents which has been determined in advance for eachintention, an execution unit 231 for performing the executionprocessing, and a contents generation unit 234. The execution unit 231includes a controller 232 and an information collection unit 233.

The execution processing storage 235 stores the processing to beperformed (execution processing) for each intention recognition result.The execution processing is, for example, acquiring positionalinformation from the GPS receiver 161 when the location to be confirmedby the location confirmation is a current position. Even in the case ofthe location confirmation, when the location to be confirmed is aspecific location other than the current position, the executionprocessing is accessing a map information DB 110 p which is held in thestorage 110 or on the network and acquiring the positional informationof the location.

The execution unit 231 accesses the execution processing storage 235,and performs the execution processing in accordance with the receivedintention recognition result. As needed during the execution processing,the execution unit 231 makes the controller 232 control the operation ofthe terminal, and makes the information collection unit 233 collectinformation.

The controller 232 controls the operations of the information processingterminal 100 in accordance with an instruction from the execution unit231. Specifically, during the execution processing, when the functionfor acquiring the positional information is turned off even though theprocessing for acquiring the positional information is included in theexecution processing, the controller 232 temporarily turns on thefunction. In the present embodiment, for example, the GPS receiver 161serves as the function for acquiring the positional information.

The information collection unit 233 collects information in accordancewith an instruction from the execution unit 231 when it is necessary tocollect various information during the execution processing.

The information collection unit 233, for example, acquires thelatitude/longitude information from the information acquired by the GPSreceiver 161 of the sensor 160 to specify the position. Next, theinformation collection unit 233 searches the map information DB 110 pheld in the storage 110, etc. to acquire such as an address, a facilityname, and a building name which serve as a landmark of the currentposition.

In this connection, acquisition of the positional information can beperformed not only from the GPS but also via the communication processor(specifically, via Wi-Fi, mobile communication network, etc.) 150.Furthermore, specification of the position may be performed based on thepositional information of the access points which are the communicationdestination of the communication processor 150.

The information collection unit 233 acquires such as personalinformation, pictures, and moving pictures in the information processingterminal 100 from the personal information DB 254. Likewise, theinformation collection unit 233 may acquire such as an address, atelephone number, an e-mail address, and an application ID of eachperson registered in the contact information DB 251 therefrom. In thisconnection, when each application has the respective application IDs,the information collection unit 233 acquires them from each applicationby referring to the contact information DB 251 as needed.

Furthermore, the information collection unit 233 may acquire scheduleinformation of the user of the information processing terminal 100 froma schedule DB 110 r in the personal information DB 254. The scheduleinformation includes time information and location information.

The execution unit 231 may temporarily set new schedule information inthe schedule DB 110 r when it is determined that the appointment can bemade as a result of the execution processing.

The information collection unit 233 may access a traffic information DB110 s to collect information. The execution unit 231, for example,calculates an expected time required for travelling between thedeparture place and the arrival place by using the information collectedby the information collection unit 233. In addition, the informationcollection unit 233 may acquire the expected time required fortravelling from the departure place to arrival place directly from thetraffic information DB 110 s for each of walking, train, bus, and car(taxi).

The traffic information DB 110 s may be stored in the inside of theinformation processing terminal 100, or may be held on a server on theInternet via the communication processor 150. In this connection,calculation of the travelling time by train may take account of delayinformation, and the calculation of the travelling time by bus and/orcar (taxi) may take account of traffic congestion information of theroad (current or prediction). For example, when a plurality of routescan be considered, there is a possibility that the priority of theshortest route is lowered due to influence of the delay.

The information collection unit 233 may acquire the surroundingconditions of the information processing terminal 100 as image or voiceinformation via the video processor 120 and the voice processor 130.

The contents generation unit 234 generates response contents by usingthe execution result by the execution unit 231. Thereby, the responsecreation unit 230 acquires the information in accordance with theintention of the access partner from the information collection unit233, to generate the response contents including such information.

Hereinafter, a flow of the automatic response processing performed bythe automatic response unit 104 d of the present embodiment will bedescribed. As illustrated in FIG. 3, mainly, the voice recognitionprogram 110 c and the automatic response program 110 d stored in thestorage 110 are developed on the memory 104 and executed by the maincontroller 101, and thereby the processing of the automatic responseunit 104 d is realized.

FIG. 8 illustrates a main flowchart of automatic response processing ofthe information processing terminal 100. In the following, the automaticresponse in the case of telephone will be described as an example, andreference to some operations of the processing in the case of e-mail andtext chat, which are similar to those of the processing in the case oftelephone, will be omitted. Meanwhile, characteristic points in theomitted cases will be referred to as needed.

Firstly, upon receiving the first telephone call from the accesspartner, the situation grasping unit 224 acquires a telephone number(ID) of the access partner (S301).

Then, the situation grasping unit 224 determines whether the automaticresponse function is turned on (S302). When the automatic responsefunction is turned off, the situation grasping unit 224 performs anoperation similar to the case of a normal incoming call (S315). In thiscase, when the user cannot respond to the incoming call but has set theautomatic answering telephone function, the automatic answeringtelephone function will be operated.

When the automatic response function is turned on, the situationgrasping unit 224 determines whether the user can respond to the access(S303). Determination above by the situation grasping unit 224 is made,for example, by whether a telephone call is answered, an e-mail isopened, or a message in a text chat is read within a certain period oftime.

When the automatic response function is turned on and the user canrespond to the access, the situation grasping unit 224 also proceeds theprocessing to S315, performs the operation similar to the case of anormal incoming call (S315), and finishes the automatic responsefunction.

When the user cannot respond to the access, the situation grasping unit224 specifies who the access partner is (S304). The specification of theaccess partner is performed by using the acquired ID of the accesspartner and the contact information DB 251. When the acquired ID is notregistered in the contact information DB 251 and specification of theaccess partner cannot be performed, the situation grasping unit 224proceeds the processing to S305 while rendering the type 251 h as“unknown”.

Next, the situation grasping unit 224 refers to the contact informationDB 251 to determine whether the type 251 h of the access partner is“unsolicited” (S305). When it is determined that the category type ofthe access partner is “unsolicited”, the situation grasping unit 224transmits a response for unsolicited contact (S313), and finishes theprocessing.

The processing above makes it possible for the user to finish thecontact with the access partner who is considered as an unsolicitedperson by the user without performing subsequent processing when theuser registers the telephone number of the unsolicited person in thecontact information DB 251. Here, an access partner who is considered asan unsolicited person by the user may not necessarily be registered inthe contact information DB 251. For example, an ID of an access partnerwho is considered as an unsolicited person by the user may be stored onthe server. In this case, the situation grasping unit 224 acquires theID thereof via the communication processor 150. Furthermore, thesituation grasping unit 224 may determine an access partner who accessesthe information processing terminal 100 with a certain frequency withina certain period of time as an unsolicited person, and automaticallysets such an access partner in the contact information DB 251. The caseabove is, for example, for a crank call.

Next, the situation grasping unit 224 refers to the contact informationDB 251 and the authority information DB 252 to specify the authority ofthe access partner (S306).

Then, the situation grasping unit 224 determines whether the specifiedauthority of the access partner (category 252 a) is “emergency” (S307).When it is determined that the authority of the access partner (category252 a) is “emergency”, the situation grasping unit 224 executes theemergency processing (S314), and finishes the processing.

Here, for example, a case where the user suffers from the disaster isassumed. The situation grasping unit 224 performs, as an operation ofthe emergency processing, such as generating a beep sound, turning on alight or a emitting light, transmitting positional information (byturning on the positional information function when it is turned off),or activating a camera to transmit a still picture or a moving picture.In the case of emergency processing, the situation grasping unit 224 mayrequest the access partner to input a dedicated password to confirmwhether the access partner is the one who has the authority to performthe emergency processing.

Next, the situation grasping unit 224 confirms a state (S308). The stateto be confirmed is a state of the user. Specifically, for example,information for specifying the state of the user (state information)such as during moving, talking on the phone, viewing a moving picture,or playing a game is output as a confirmation result. The details willbe described later with reference to FIG. 9.

Then, the situation grasping unit 224 transmits an initial response inaccordance with the state confirmed in S308 via the text data generationunit 228 or the voice data generation unit 229 (S309). The initialresponse may include, in accordance with the authority of the accesspartner, a request to transmit a message.

The initial response may be the one which is provided in the firstperson by the automatic response unit 104 d, for example, “The usercannot respond to your contact now. Please tell me your message so I amgoing to help you in place of the user”. Furthermore, the authorityinformation DB 252 may additionally include a list of “reasons ofabsence”. When the access partner has the authority to be notified ofthe “reasons of absence”, the situation grasping unit 224 may add thestate information confirmed in S308 to the initial response as thereason of absence. In this case, for example, the initial response says“The user is engaged with another call and cannot answer your contactnow” instead of “The user cannot respond to your contact now”.

Next, the processer 220 determines, after transmission of the initialresponse, whether the receiver 210 received a message from the accesspartner in response to the initial response within a certain period oftime (S310). In this connection, the processer 220 may set anothercertain period of time which is shorter than the certain period of timeused for determining whether the receiver 210 has received a messagefrom the access partner, and doubly determine such as, when the accesspartner makes contact via an e-mail, whether the e-mail of the initialresponse has been opened, and when the access partner makes contact viaa text chat, whether the message of the initial response has been read.

Upon receiving a message from the access partner, the processer 220performs response generation processing to generate a response accordingto the contents/purpose of the message (S311). The details will bedescribed later.

Next, the transmitter 240 transmits the contents generated in S311 tothe access partner who is the transmission source (S312). Then, thetransmitter 240 returns the processing to S310, and the automaticresponse function continues to correspond with the access partner untilno message arrives from the access partner. When the user becomes readyto respond to the access during the execution of the operation in theflowchart, the automatic response function stops the operation in themiddle and switches the response to the user.

Hereinafter, the details of the state confirmation processing performedby the situation grasping unit 224 in S308 will be described. FIG. 9illustrates a flowchart of the state confirmation processing.

Firstly, the situation grasping unit 224 determines whether there is anactive application (S401). When it is determined that there is no activeapplication, the situation grasping unit 224 searches for whether theuser has a schedule at the time of being accessed (S402).

When the schedule is found, the situation grasping unit 224 accesses theschedule DB 110 r to acquire schedule information (S407), and finishesthe processing. At this time, the schedule information is output asstate information.

On the other hand, when no schedule is found in S403, the situationgrasping unit 224 determines whether the positional information functionis turned on (S404), and when it is turned off, finishes the processingwithout being capable of confirming the state of the user. When thestate of the user cannot be confirmed, information indicating such asunknown is output, or nothing may be output.

When the positional information function is turned on in S404, thesituation grasping unit 224 determines whether the user is moving(S405). Specifically, the situation grasping unit 224 acquires thepositional information to determine whether the user is moving based onchanges in the positional information. When the user is not moving, thesituation grasping unit 224 finishes the processing without beingcapable of confirming the state of the user.

On the other hand, when the user is moving, the situation grasping unit224 acquires the moving speed (S406), and finishes the processing. Inthis case, information indicating that the user is moving is output asthe state information. In S406, a threshold may be provided for themoving speed to further determine whether the user is moving at highspeed. In addition, the situation grasping unit 224 may refer to the mapinformation, etc. together with the moving speed to assume the specificmoving means such as on foot, by bicycle, car, or train. The determinedresult and assumed result may be output together with the stateinformation.

Next, when it is determined in S401 that there is an active application,the situation grasping unit 224 determines whether it is a telephoneapplication (S408). If the telephone application is active, thesituation grasping unit 224 acquires information of a conversationpartner (S409), and finishes the processing. In this case, informationindicating that the user is talking on the phone with the conversationpartner is output as the state information.

On the other hand, when the active application is not a telephoneapplication, the situation grasping unit 224 acquires information of theapplication (S410), and finishes the processing. In this case,information indicating that the application is in use is output as thestate information.

The reason for searching for an active application is, for example,there is a possibility that the user does not answer an incoming callwhile viewing a moving picture or playing a game. In such a situation,when someone accesses the information processing terminal 100 via ane-mail or a text chat, there is also a possibility that the user cannoteven notice that someone has accesses to his/her information processingterminal 100.

Hereinafter, the details of the response generation processing in stepS311 will be described. FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of the responsegeneration processing in S311

Firstly, the intention recognition unit 223 analyzes a message receivedfrom the access partner to specify the access partner's intension toaccess the information processing terminal 100, that is, purpose of theaccess (S501).

Then, the response creation unit 230 determines whether the purpose ofthe access is identification confirmation (S502). Originally, theinformation processing terminal 100 is owned by the userhimself/herself. Accordingly, there are basically few cases that theinformation processing terminal 100 receives an access from the userhimself/herself. However, in a case where the information processingterminal 100 is such as a portable smart phone, there is a possibilitythat the user loses the occupancy of the information processing terminal100 due to lost or theft thereof. In such a case, the userhimself/herself needs to access the information processing terminal 100to confirm the location of his/her information processing terminal 100(smart phone) which has been lost. An access from a user himself/herselfassumes such the case above.

When the purpose of the access is identification confirmation, theresponse creation unit 230 requests the user to input a password toconfirm that the access partner is the user himself/herself (S503).After receiving the password (S504) and confirming that the inputpassword coincides with the password 251 d in the contact information DB251 (S505), the response creation unit 230 sets the authority of theaccess partner as “myself” (the user of the information processingterminal 100) (S506). Then, the response creation unit 230 createsresponse contents in accordance with the purpose (identificationconfirmation) and the authority (S512), and finishes the processing.

When the purpose of the access is not identification confirmation inS502, the response creation unit 230 determines whether the purpose ofthe access is leaving a message (S507). When it is determined that thepurpose is leaving a message, the response creation unit 230 records themessage from the access partner (S508), creates response contents inaccordance therewith (S512), and finishes the processing.

When the purpose of the access is other than the above, the responsecreation unit 230 determines whether a response can be made within theauthority of the access partner (S509). When it is determined that aresponse can be made within the authority of the access partner, theresponse creation unit 230 refers to the execution processing storage235 to execute processing in accordance with the purpose of the access(S510). In this connection, specific examples of the processing to beexecuted will be described later.

Thereafter, the response recording unit 226 records the executedprocessing in the response recording DB 253 (S511). The responsecreation unit 230 generates response contents by using the executionresult (S512), and finishes the processing.

When a response cannot be made within the authority of the accesspartner, the response creation unit 230 generates a message indicatingthat it is not possible to respond to the access from the access partner(S512), and finishes the processing.

Hereinafter, specific examples of the execution processing along thepurpose in S510 which is performed by the response creation unit 230will be described. FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a flowchartindicating the details of S510. Here, a case where the intentionrecognition result by the intention recognition unit 223 is locationconfirmation is illustrated as an example. For instance, a case where amessage from the access partner includes an expression to request toobtain the positional information of the user such as “Where are you?”will be described.

Firstly, the execution unit 231 determines whether the positionalinformation function of the information processing terminal 100 isturned on (S601). When the positional information function is turned on,the information collection unit 233 acquires positional information(S604). Then, the information collection unit 233 acquires addressinformation from the acquired positional information (S605), and outputsthe acquired address information as a processing result. The informationcollection unit 233 acquires the address information by referring to themap information DB 110 p. The address information includes not only aspecific address but also may include a building name and/or a placename.

On the other hand, when the positional information function is turnedoff in S601, the execution unit 231 confirms whether the authority isthe user himself/herself (the user of the information processingterminal 100) (S602). If the authority is the user himself/herself, thecontroller 232 turns on the positional information function (S603). Thisis because, as described above, the purpose of searching for a smartphone which the user himself/herself has lost is considered. It isdesirable that, after acquiring the positional information, thecontroller 232 turns off the position information function forsubsequent automatic responses.

When the authority is not the user himself/herself in S602, that is,when the positional information function is turned off and the authorityis not the user himself/herself, the execution unit 231 refers to theschedule DB 110 r to determine whether the schedule of the user isregistered at the time when the access partner accessed the informationprocessing terminal 100 (S606). When the schedule is registered, theexecution unit 231 refers to the schedule DB 110 r to determine whetherlocation information is included in the registered schedule (S607). Whenthe location information is included therein, the information collectionunit 233 acquires the location information (S608) and outputs thelocation information as a processing result (positional information).

On the other hand, if the schedule is not registered in S606 and thelocation information is not included in the schedule in S607, theexecution unit 231 renders that it is not possible to acquire thepositional information, outputs the above as a processing result, andfinishes the processing.

The processing above is described by giving an example of the case inwhich, when the execution unit 231 cannot acquire the positionalinformation by means of the positional information function, it proceedsthe processing in order of searching for the schedule informationcorresponding thereto in the schedule DB 110 r, and then acquiring thelocation information as the positional information. Meanwhile, it may bepossible to reverse the order above.

Furthermore, the execution unit 231 may acquire the positionalinformation by only one of the means in accordance with the authority ofthe access partner. The positional information is information whichcannot be changed by the user of the information processing terminal100. On the other hand, the location information included in theschedule DB 110 r can be changed by the user. In this way, they aredifferent in nature with each other. It can be said that the informationacquired by the positional information function is information to behandled more carefully. For example, it can be assumed that, when thetype 251 h is a family or a friend, the positional information acquiredby the positional information function is notified to the access partnerwhile when the type 251 h is a company, the positional informationacquired by the positional information function is not notified thereto.

Hereinafter, another specific example of the execution processing alongthe purpose in S510 will be described. FIG. 12 illustrates an example ofa flowchart indicating the details of S510. Here, a case where theintention recognition result by the intention recognition unit 223 isappointment request is illustrated as an example. For example, a casewhere a message from the access partner includes an expression torequest to obtain the schedule information of the user such as “Can wemeet now?” will be described.

Firstly, the execution unit 231 acquires a date and time, and a locationwhich the access partner requests to know (S701). The execution unit 231extracts such information from an analysis result by the intentionrecognition unit 223. Note that the location information is notnecessarily required. Meanwhile, if the location information can beacquired, it is possible to perform response operations more accurately.The location information may also be acquired via the other-informationreceiver 213. For example, when both the user and the access partnerrecognize with each other that they are within the walking distance, itis considered that the access partner acquires the positionalinformation from the smart phone (information processing terminal 100)of the user. Additionally, when the information processing terminal 100stores the positional information of the access partner, the positionalinformation of the access partner may be used as the information of thelocation of request.

Next, the execution unit 231 searches for the schedule on the date andtime of request (S702). In this case, the execution unit 231 refers tothe schedule DB 110 r to extract data of the date and time of request.

Then, the execution unit 231 confirms whether the schedule is alreadyregistered on the date and time of request (S703), and when it isconfirmed that the schedule is registered, finishes the processing.

On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the schedule is notregistered, the execution unit 231 searches for the schedule immediatelybefore and after the date and time of request (S704) to confirm whetherthe schedule immediately before and after the date and time of requestis registered (S705). When the schedule is not registered, the executionunit 231 temporarily sets an appointment in the schedule DB 110 r(S707), and finishes the processing. At the time of temporarily settingan appointment, the execution unit 231 adds and registers new scheduleinformation on the date and time of request in the schedule DB 110 r. Inthis connection, as to whether the user has a schedule immediatelybefore and after the date and time of request, the user canappropriately set its range, namely, within the day or from the daybefore and after the requested data.

When the schedule is registered on the date and time immediately beforeor after the date and time of request, the execution unit 231 alsorefers to the location information to determine whether the schedule canbe moved (S706). For example, the execution unit 231 makes theinformation collection unit 233 acquire the positional information, thelocation information of the location of request, the traffic informationon the area between the two locations, etc., of the date and timeimmediately before or after the date and time of request from the mapinformation DB 110 p, the traffic information DB 110 s, etc. Theexecution unit 231 determines whether the user can move to thedestination within the time.

Then, the execution unit 231 finishes the processing when it isdetermined that the user cannot move to the destination within the time.On the other hand, the execution unit 231 proceeds the processing toS707 when it is determined that the user can move to the destinationwithin the time.

Upon completion of the processing in S510, if having temporarily set theappointment in the schedule, the execution unit 231 reflects thecontents of the appointment on creation of the response contents whileif not having temporarily set the appointment in the schedule, theexecution unit 231 reflects the contents above on creation of theresponse contents. Note that even if the schedule is registered on thedate and time immediately before or after the date and time of request,when the location information is not registered, the execution unit 231cannot determine whether the user can move to the destination within thetime in S706. Therefore, in this case as well, the execution unit 231determines that the user cannot move to the destination within the time.

In this connection, still another example of the execution processing inS510 is transmission of data stored in the information processingterminal 100 such as a still picture, a moving picture, and a document.For example, when the access partner is a family member or a friend, theinformation processing terminal 100 transmits thereto a still picture ormoving picture from the trip. When the access partner is a colleague orsuperior of the company, the information processing terminal 100transmits thereto a necessary document.

A further example of the execution processing in S510 is transmission ofhealth information of the user. For example, the information processingterminal 100 acquires health information (biological information such aspulse and blood pressure) in coordination with a wearable device foracquiring biological information, etc. For example in home care, evenwhen the user is sleeping and cannot respond to an access, a doctorand/or nurse can periodically grasp the health condition of the user,which makes it possible to quickly find the occurrence of emergency.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an informationprocessing terminal 100 that performs automatic response, comprises: thedatabase 250 configured to store personal information of a user of theinformation processing terminal 100; the receiver 210 configured toreceive an access and a message from an access partner; the automaticresponse unit 104 d (processor 220) configured to, after receiving theaccess, perform a request to the access partner to transmit the messagewhen an operation in response to the access is not input in theinformation processing terminal 100, and create a response to themessage which has been received in response to the request; and thetransmitter 240 configured to transmit the response to the accesspartner. Furthermore, the automatic response unit 104 d includes: theintention recognition unit 223 configured to recognize an intension ofthe message; and the response creation unit 230 configured to refer tothe intension of the message and the personal information to create aresponse to the message.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when the informationprocessing terminal 100 receives an access, even if the user does not orcannot react to the access, the information processing terminal 100autonomously creates response contents and returns a response to anaccess source by taking account of the contents of the access and asituation of the information processing terminal 100. With thisconfiguration, the information processing terminal 100 does not requirethe user to perform complicated processing. Therefore, according to thepresent embodiment, it is possible to perform an optimum responseoperation in accordance with the contents of the access withoutperforming complicated procedure.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the receiver 210further receives an ID of the access partner, and the database 250further may store the contact information DB 251 that stores a categoryof the access partner by corresponding it to the ID information of theaccess partner and the authority information DB 252 that storespropriety of execution processing, which is performed by the informationprocessing terminal 100 in accordance with the message from the accesspartner, as authority for each category. Still further, the responsecreation unit (processer 220) further may perform the executionprocessing to create a response in accordance with the message byreferring to the ID of the access partner, the contact information DB251, and the authority information DB 252.

With this configuration, according to the present embodiment, responsecontents are automatically changed in accordance with access sources.That is, even when receiving the same messages, the informationprocessing terminal 100 performs response operations in accordance withattributes of access sources, respectively. Therefore, according to thepresent embodiment, it is possible to perform more optimum responseoperations without increasing a burden imposed on a user.

The embodiment above is described under the presumption that theinformation processing terminal 100 holds a program for realizingautomatic response processing. On the other hand, the present inventionis not limited to the present embodiment. For example, the program maybe introduced to an external storage of the information processingterminal 100 as necessary, via for example, a removable storage medium,communication medium (such as a wired, wireless, or optical network, acarrier wave, and digital signals on the network).

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   100: information processing terminal-   101: main controller-   102: system bus-   104: memory-   104 a: basic operation unit-   104 b: camera function unit-   104 c: voice recognition unit-   104 d: automatic response unit-   104 e: other-function unit-   104 f: temporary storage area-   110: storage-   110 a: basic operation program-   110 b: camera function program-   110 c: voice recognition program-   110 d: automatic response program-   110 e: other program-   110 f: various information/data storage area-   120: video processor-   121: display-   122: video signal processor-   123: first video input unit-   124: second video input unit-   125: third video input unit-   129: flash unit-   130: voice processor-   131: voice output unit-   132: voice signal processor-   133: voice input unit-   140: operation unit-   140 k 1: operation key-   140 k 2: operation key-   140 t: touch panel-   150: communication processor-   151: LAN transceiver-   152: mobile telephone network transceiver-   153: proximity wireless transceiver-   160: sensor-   161: GPS receiver-   162: acceleration sensor-   163: gyro sensor-   164: geomagnetic sensor-   165: illuminance sensor-   166: proximity sensor-   170: extension interface-   210: receiver-   211: text data receiver-   212: voice data receiver-   213: other-information receiver-   220: processer-   221: character recognition unit-   222: voice recognition unit-   223: intention recognition unit-   224: situation grasping unit-   225: authority setting unit-   226: response recording unit-   227: terminal controller-   228: text data generation unit-   229: voice data generation unit-   230: response creation unit-   231: execution unit-   232: controller-   233: information collection unit-   234: contents generation unit-   235: execution processing storage-   240: transmitter-   241: text data transmitter-   242: voice data transmitter-   250: database-   251 a: name-   251 b: category-   251 c: birth date-   251 d: password-   251 e: ID information-   251 f: belonging-   251 g: importance flag-   251 h: type-   251 i: telephone number-   251 j: e-mail address-   251 k: application ID-   252 a: category-   252 b: propriety information-   110 p: map information DB-   110 r: schedule DB-   110 s: traffic information DB-   251: contact information DB-   252: authority information DB-   253: response recording DB-   254: personal information DB

1-15. (canceled)
 16. An information processing terminal for preparingand implementing an automatic response, the information processingterminal comprising: a memory storing personal information of a user ofthe information processing terminal and an application program; and atleast one microprocessor programmed to: receive an access request froman access partner, in response to the received access request, perform arequest to the access partner to transmit a message when an operation inresponse to the access request is not input in the informationprocessing terminal; create a response to the message which has beenreceived in response to the access request; execute an application onthe information processing terminal; identify an intention of themessage upon receiving the message which has been received in responseto the request; implement an automatic response to the message byreferring to the intention of the message, personal information of theuser of the information processing terminal stored in the memory and aninformation about the application if there is an active application onthe information processing terminal; and transmit the automatic responseto the access partner.
 17. The information processing terminal accordingto claim 16, wherein a type of the application includes a gameapplication, a video player application, or a telephone callapplication.
 18. The information processing terminal according to claim16, wherein the message and the automatic response are transmitted andreceived via telephone, E-mail or text chat.
 19. The informationprocessing terminal according to claim 16, wherein the automaticresponse includes a state of the user.
 20. The information processingterminal according to claim 19, wherein the state of the user includesidentifying that the user is: (i) playing a game, (ii) watching a video,or (iii) making a telephone call.
 21. The information processingterminal according to claim 16, furthermore comprising a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) sensor or wireless interface configured toacquire positional information of the information processing terminal,wherein: the personal information includes the positional information ofthe information processing terminal, the automatic response includes thepositional information of the information processing terminal, and theat least one microprocessor acquires the positional information of theinformation processing terminal after turning on the GPS sensor orwireless interface if the positional information acquisition is turnedoff, and turns off the GPS sensor or wireless interface after acquiringthe positional information.
 22. A method for preparing and implementingan automatic response for an information processing terminal, the methodcomprising: receiving an access request in the information processingterminal from an access partner; performing a request to the accesspartner to transmit a message when an operation in response to theaccess is not input in the information processing terminal; executing anapplication program stored in memory of the information processingterminal; executing an application on the information processingterminal; identifying an intention of the message upon receiving themessage which has been received in response to the request; implementingan automatic response to the message by referring to the intention ofthe message, personal information of the user of the informationprocessing terminal stored in the memory and an information about theapplication if there is an active application on the informationprocessing terminal; and transmitting the automatic response to theaccess partner.
 23. The method according to claim 22, wherein a type ofthe application includes a game application, a video player application,or a telephone call application.
 24. The method according to claim 22,wherein the message and the response are transmitted and received viatelephone, E-mail or text chat.
 25. The method according to claim 22,wherein the automatic response includes a state of the user.
 26. Themethod according to claim 25, wherein the state of the user includesidentifying that the user is: (i) playing a game, (ii) watching a video,or (iii) making a telephone call.
 27. The method according to claim 25,further comprising: acquiring, by a Global Positioning System (GPS)sensor or wireless interface, positional information of the informationprocessing terminal; turning on the GPS sensor or wireless interfacewhen acquiring the positional information if the GPS sensor or wirelessinterface is turned off; and turning off the GPS sensor or wirelessinterface after turning on the GPS sensor or wireless interface andacquiring the positional information; wherein: the personal informationincludes the positional information of the information processingterminal, and the automatic response includes the positional informationof the information processing terminal.